Q&A KNOWLEDGEBASE

The Universal Covenants

In what ways were God's covenants with Adam and Noah more universal than later covenants?

Answer

In the covenant of grace there are obviously what we would see as more national covenants, like with Abraham and Moses and David, but prior to those there were two, what we would call, "universal covenants" with Adam and then with Noah… So, these two covenants, with Adam and with Noah, make wonderful promises to mankind. The first one is that God will send the seed of a woman, one of Eve's descendants, a human being who will be our Savior; this is the God-man Jesus Christ. And he promises Noah that despite how wicked the world becomes — and it is increasingly becoming more wicked as time goes on — he will never again destroy it with some catastrophic flood or some natural judgment as he did in the days of Noah… So, these two covenants … look at a much broader audience and a broader work of God in the salvation of the world than even the more national covenants with Abraham and Moses and David.